Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-07-11

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else, I stopped. This is 6 neat little
city, on the Fort Worth and Denver
Railway, ia miles northwest Of Fort
Worth.
suppose the town contains nesrly 5000
inhabitants, and is beautifully located in
the rolling praiTies, which skirt the
southern bank of the Wichita river. The
surrounding country is of that traditional
fertility over which the crow few, and
vast quantities is being put in cultiva-
ton.
l noticed one farmer bringing in a
wag0n-load of excellent wheat, and from
him learned that he had harvested twenty
four bushels per acre Of this valuable
cereal. Until late years the people in this
country have devoted ell their time to
stock raising, but recently their attention
has been directed to 1.-THE exceeding fer
tiIity Of the Ill, and farms and farm
houses now dot the beautiful hills and
valleys, where once the "dug out" and
stock pen reigned supreme.
From specimens Of different ores which
were shown ne, one would Judge that
vast mineral wealth was underlying these
picturesque hills.
l met numerous friends and acquaint-
ances in Wichita Falls. Among those
recall was DR.. Sam Coffeld, one of the
leading physicians Of this city, at whose
house I was Hospitality entertained by
himself and excellent wife. Also Judge
a. C. Kean, G. NJ. Black, druggist; Theo-
dOre COtiield end Mr.. McCutchen, drug
gists; Sidney Stinnett and J. a. Kemp,
two of the largest merchants in the city;
and l must not forget my old true and
tried friend, Henry Burgess, bald
headed blacksmith, who says THE GA
zETTE is the best paper in Texas. Your
scribe was more than pleased 10 find this
the prevailing sentiment here. They ell
like THE GAZETTE.
The people here are jubilant over their
almost certainty Of securing the Chicago,
Rock Island and Pacific Railway; and
well they may be, for the advent OF this
road into Wichita Falls will give the town
e boom that VIII be felt and heard afar.
While here l experienced one of the
most daring, as well as exciting, adveu-
lures upon cord. In passing along the
street | noticed g group of young men
discussing some exciting question, judg-
ing from their tone and gestures, and |
very naturally paused to learn the nature
Of the debate.
OTIS no use telling me- any such non
sense!" said Sid Stinnett, in 8 sneering
tone. "YOu might preach such stuff to the
marines but you can't gull me in any
such style. Why it wouldn't last five
minutes"
"weu, say it can. snd I've got the
money to back my judgment" replied
@. NJ. Black in an angry tone. 81 hate to
see people talking about something they
don't understand. l say it can lick him
in five minutes, and here's So says the
same thing. Now put up, or shut up"
son, you know very well I don't bet"
answered Stinnett. "But l know it can't
do anything OF the kind"
! became very much interested in the
half angry talk, and calling Sid to one
side inquired the nature OF the dispute.
"Oh, Black, just think, be knows ell
about dogs" explained Sid, "and he
don't know an Irish setter from poodle.
I've got 9 bulldog that has licked every
thing in this country. Last fall he
whipped two full grown black bears in
eighteen minutes. Yesterday & fellow
from over IN the Nation came to town
and brought full grown badger. Black
bought the COMPOUNDED thing and has had
il fighting sll the ours IN town, and now
has the cheek to say 1t can whip Dyna-
mite. Pshaw! 1t can't do anything of the
kind. l won't bet on it, but some man
can win s. of Backs money mighty
easy"
"But do you reckon the dog can whip
the badger, Sid:'' l asked in an excited
tone, for w&s eager for the fray.
"Whip --. Why Kay,he can whip his
weight in rattlesnakes. I'd Just love to
see.him mastlcate that measley badger
pu tell you what to do. of course, l
can't bet on it, never, never bet-0ut
you make the wager with Black, and if
you lose, pIl pay the bill. I'd give So to
see Dynamite eet up his badger"
was excited. I wanted 10 win the
money ard 1 pined for the battle between
the fierce animals. had no difficulty in
securing q bet, and soon the betting be
came lively, aud large sums of money
were wagered-sCme on the dog, but most
on the badger. This made NE q little
nervous, but you see l was betting On
Sid's Judgment and he said his dog could
whip twenty such badgers. The crowd
adjourned 10 g livery stable, and soon g
negro came in leading Sid'5 Dynamite
| was disappointed in the dog am
no Judge Of dogs, out If l had given an
of-hsEd guess as to the breed of this
particular one, I would have said he
could probably claim kin with every other
dog west Of the Mississippi, with the
hound predOmineting. He was one of
those meek, amiable creatures, usually
found IN the bsCk alley adjoining a beef
market, thst falls down and yelIs when
he sees you reach for q rock. took Sid |
to one side and intimated as much, but |
he assured me that Dynamite was holy
terror, and would't leave enough Of that |
badger TO so in coffee. a dispute seemed |
imminent as to who should pull the /
badger from the barrel in which he was
kept, and finally l was selected as
g fair.mlnded man who would dc
Justice to both sides. The |
prelimiaaries were all arranged, and |
g negro got astraddIe the dogs back and |
tried to work some enthusiasm into him, |
by holding the enimaI's head near the !
covered barrel, and Kissing him, but the |
dog only took q sniff, turned up k's nose
and yelled to get away. At last all was
resdy, l grasped the small long rope
which passed INTO the barrel. a piece of |
blanket hid the ferocious animal from .
view, and l was told to pull him sud
denly out, and then climb up 8 ladder !
near b. The word was given-I braced |
my feet Snd gave savage pull, snd out
came-Wen it wasn't badger by blank
sight. At least | never heard it called by |